“Instructional Blogging” by Stuart Glogoff
In my continuing research into the educational applications of blogs, I’ve run across an article by Stuart Glogoff entitled “Instructional Blogging: Promoting Interactivity, Student-Centered Learning, and Peer Input“. The paper outlines the author’s experiences and findings during his use of blogs in a number of courses over a multi-year period.
The entire paper is worth a read in that it covers a real-world case study; however I won’t be analysing it in its entirety here, only the aspects regarding the actual case study.
To sum up the background, Glogoff cites three separate courses, each of which adopted a different technical model, and integration solution:
- The first course was mixed-modal and used only a discussion forum. The results were quite positive, with only the most introverted students not participating.
- The second course used a group blog, and despite requirements that all students participate - in the form of blog post contributions, commenting and discussion - only those students who found the subject matter engaging actually participated. Feedback from students indicated that the blog was popular, however some were disappointed in the relative lack of participation and frequency of posts.
- In the third course each student was allocated their own blog, and assignments required students to “read each other’s entries and make three substantive comments per week.”
In the case of the second course, which featured the group blog, results were mixed. Glogoff discussed feedback from an anonymous survey at the end of the 2003 class in which:
“…one student commented that he/she enjoyed reading about new subjects and doing research for postings to the topical blog. The student lamented, however, that in general ‘the posts were few and far between. None of my posts were ever commented on, which was a little disappointing.’”
In the following session, Glogoff altered the format considerably, by assigning each student their own blog and developing assignments geared towards encouraging blog posts, and comments. The results, he notes, were far more positive than the previous year:
“In this course, I observed more participation than in the previous year’s class, and students reported that blogging promoted a greater sense of community. Overall, student satisfaction with blogging in the 2004 course was high, and students reported that the peer-review capabilities of blogging contributed to better understandings of course content.”
Unfortunately the paper is relatively light on detail, therefore it’s difficult to make any firm conclusions. For example he didn’t go into any detail about the assignment requirements in the second session, saying only that participation in the blog and resulting comments had been mandatory. Nonetheless, some observations are still possible.
First and foremost, the implications of the move from a group blog to individual student blogs are quite significant, as there is a drastic perceptual change between being one poster among many - and therefore having minimal control over most aspects of the blog, what is posted there, what the aesthetic elements are - and having your own blog in the next course. Suddenly you have sole control over in the blog, including what it looks like, how the comments are moderated, and what the trends of the content are. The sense of ownership from a technical standpoint is far greater.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the course yielded more positive results and feedback than its predecessor.
Second, Glogoff’s findings point to a clear correlation between participation and student satisfaction - particularly with respect to constructive comments. Arguably therefore, a key conclusion of this case study is that the presence of student community resulted in a more effective and positive learning experience.
Once again though, no references to specific student blog comments were provided, so it is difficult to ascertain their depth, nature, and indeed sincerity. Along those lines, I would argue that a policy of mandatory student comments should be reconsidered and instead favour alternative methods which seek to inspire voluntary interaction.
A new model
The progression of course models outlined in Glogoff’s paper are headed in the right direction, however I propose that far more flexibility should be afforded to the students. The question though, is whether higher education is ready for a shift towards this sort of model.
To elaborate: In an ideal world students should be encouraged to undertake self-directed learning and research, self-motivation, and self-assessment.
Students learn best when internally motivated or self motivated; when they are inspired and enthused by the topic and invested in it and have themselves chosen to pursue it. The best learning is not forced or externally driven. Concentration span and hard work are more easily apparent in students who are passionate and invested in what they are doing and engage in self-directed exploration and investigation.
However in reality, the present culture in higher education presents some tremendous challenged and conflicting perspectives.
Fundamental to this is the culture of competition that has arisen from an excessive emphasis and focus on marks and grades over the course of a student’s academic career. Over time natural curiosity has been replaced with a focus on the external - such as the achievements of your peers and a desire for high class distinction - to the point now in which the “learning process” is perceived to have an end (after final exams), and the inevitable questions start to be asked: “Will this be on the exam?”, “Is this extra credit?”, or “Do I need to write that down?”
In terms of how this relates to blogging, as was illustrated by the mixed results of the group blog in Glogoff’s second course, in the worst case students see their blogs as just another requirement to pass the course - another test - rather than an opportunity, or vehicle for discussion, further inquiry, self-reflection, self-directed research, and personal growth.
As a result, participation must be mandated and forced - and even so will still sometimes be met with opposition and apathy.
As much as possible therefore students should be encouraged and inspired to pursuit their own passions and interests within the framework of the course’s subject matter - to the extent where they develop a vested interest and sense of ownership in their own learning process. This in turn can be more easily translated into online activities such as engagement with and commenting on other student blogs, posts on their own, and a fundamental recognition of the tremendous value of a community supported learning process over that of a single subject matter expert.
Note: Glogoff’s article was originally published in Innovate (http://www.innovateonline.info/) as: Glogoff, S. 2005. Instructional blogging: Promoting interactivity, student-centered learning, and peer input. Innovate 1 (5). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=126 (accessed January 11, 2006). The article is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, The Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University.
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008